The German national team is well prepared for the current year and its bid to qualify with eight straight wins for the 2008 UEFA European Championship™. The teams from Switzerland and Austria, however, experienced setbacks at the start of 2007. “We have continued the swing of 2006. I saw what I wanted to see. It was good football”, said German national coach Joachim Loew after his team had remained undefeated in their seventh game under his direction, by beating Switzerland 3-1 on February 7. Kevin Kuranyi (7th), Mario Gomez (30th) and Torsten Frings (66th) scored the goals for the World Cup bronze medallists against their favourite opponent, Switzerland, in front of 51,333 spectators in Dusseldorf.

It was the third defeat in a row for the Swiss after 2-1 defeats by Austria and Brazil respectively in the last matches in 2006. Marco Streller, of German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart, scored for Switzerland (71st). At the same time, the Austrian national team also experienced a very disappointing day. The Austrians only managed a 1-1 draw away against Malta in Valetta. After three successive victories over Liechtenstein (2-1), Switzerland (2-1) and Trinidad and Tobago (4-1) the meagre draw triggered much criticism of the team, which had ended an almost year-long series of defeats only last October. Andreas Ivanschitz scored the equaliser with a free-kick in the 48th minute.

The German team shows confidence for the vital eighth qualifier for the 2008 UEFA European Championship™, against the Czech Republic in Prague on March 24. The Czechs won a friendly match 2-0 against Belgium in Brussels. “But I’m only thinking of Germany”, said Czech national coach Karl Brueckner, thinking ahead to the encounter between the German group leaders and his team lying in second position. The former Dortmund players Jan Koller (6th) and Marek Kulic (48th) scored the goals against Belgium. The 1996 European runners-up, then defeated by Germany in the European Championship final in London, must reckon on strong opposition. Swiss national coach Jakob Kuhn was impressed by the Germans. “A great team has shown us our limits”, commented the 63-year-old, who watched the last Swiss victory over the Germans as a 13-year-old. For Switzerland achieved this last win, in 49 matches against Germany, more than 50 years ago.

Loew had to make do without Miroslav Klose and Bernd Schneider, due to injury, as well as the suspended Lukas Podolski, shown a red card in the match against Georgia last October. This meant only these three players were missing from the line-up which met Argentina in the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ quarter-finals. Klose, the top scorer at the World Cup, was missing due to a thumb injury, Schneider due to an injured ankle. National coach Joachim Loew put his trust on a brand new attacking duo: Kevin Kuranyi, of Schalke, played for the first time since the goalless draw against France on November 12, 2005. Mario Gomez, Kuranyi’s successor with VfB Stuttgart, earned his first cap. In midfield, Loew tried a new tactic to replace Schneider. As he could play his World Cup defence with Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Christoph Metzelder and Philipp Lahm for the first time since last summer, he pushed Clemens Fritz from the right defensive position to right midfield. This formation immediately functioned well, as did the new attacking duo with the Brazilian-Spanish roots and the Swabian strain.

The German team clearly dominated the Swiss, who played with four Bundesliga players and just two from Swiss clubs, becoming stronger in the second half after several substitutions. Kuranyi celebrated a great comeback, but the 24-year-old sustained a cut in his forehead when scoring with a header. The Brazil-born attacker had netted both goals in the last victory over Switzerland (2-0) in Basle in June 2004. In Dusseldorf, he achieved his 15th goal in his 36th international match after being out of favour for 15 months. “That’s exactly what I had planned”, Kuranyi rejoiced. After his first international goal from a header, Gomez enthused: “This was the best week I have experienced so far in the sport.“

Loew is still seeking a replacement for Klose, as the attacker will be suspended for the upcoming qualifier in the Czech Republic. Clemens Fritz must also be replaced following his second yellow card in the 1-1 draw against Cyprus last November. One of the reasons why the German play had to be changed in the second half was the forced departure of Michael Ballack after he suffered a torn muscle fibre in his thigh shortly before halftime. Chelsea FC will be without the German captain until March. Frings took over the captaincy from Ballack and sent a free-kick into the net from more than 30 metres to make it 3-0.

“This was totally disappointing. We failed to play our game. I can hardly explain why, but the Germans were superior to us in all areas”, Ludovic Magnin said. The left defender had shown top form during VfB Stuttgart’s 1-0 Bundesliga win over Dortmund three days previously, as well as the later 4-1 Stuttgart win over Bremen. But against the German national team Magnin, as well as many of his Swiss team-mates, failed to repeat their club form. Switzerland will travel to Florida in the USA for their next international matches. They will meet Colombia in Fort Lauderdale on March 24 and Jamaica in Miami on March 28. Further international opponents in June are not yet known. The Netherlands will go to Switzerland on August 22. The Swiss will then play a four-nation tournament in Austria on September 9-11, for which not all opponents have been announced.

Austria’s national team will play friendly matches against Ghana in Graz on March 24, France in Paris on March 28, Scotland on May 30 and against China on June 2, both games in Vienna. Austria will then meet the Czech Republic in Austria on August 22, before they play the four-nation tournament with Switzerland, and two teams not yet known, in September.